The invention is generally directed to dough food products and to their methods of preparation. More specifically, the present invention relates to farinaceous doughs that can be stored at temperatures suitable for freezing and at temperatures suitable for refrigeration. More specifically, the invention is a scoopable dough that can be formed into various shapes and thereafter stored at temperatures suitable for freezing and at temperatures suitable for-refrigeration that includes flour, water, a protein supplement, a shortening, a humectant, and a leavening system encapsulated, and the scoopable dough has desirable viscoelastic properties. Additionally, the invention is a method of use of the scoopable dough wherein a frozen dough shape is produced that can be placed in an oven and baked without an intermediate thawing or proofing step.
Ready-made doughs that are storage stable at freezing or refrigeration temperatures are desirable for commercial and home baking. They minimize a cook""s preparation time and are easy to use. Examples of refrigerated doughs are known and include, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,526,801; U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,563; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,315. These refrigerated doughs are typically packaged and stored in a can. They are also typically limited to storage at refrigeration temperatures and cannot alternatively be stored at freezing temperatures.
Yet it can be desirable to have a dough that can be stored at both refrigeration and frozen temperatures. For example, a dough can be shipped frozen and stored frozen prior to use. Alternatively, a dough can be shipped frozen, stored frozen, and then refrigerated prior to use. Furthermore, a dough can be shipped refrigerated, stored frozen, and then placed in an oven and baked with out an intermediate thawing or proofing step.
To prepare a dough that can be refrigerated and frozen, the general problems that arise from refrigeration and freezing should be addressed. For example, doughs that are refrigerated or frozen can prepare products that are doughy or gummy in texture or that result in less than desirable leavening due to premature reaction of the leavening system. Refrigerated and frozen doughs can also have the problems of dough graying and susceptibility to microbial contamination.
Thus, it is desirable to develop a dough that can be stored at freezing and refrigeration temperatures and that can be placed in an oven directly from the freezer and the refrigerator and still provide desirable baked products under either circumstance. The dough can be packaged in consumer and foodservice quantities.
The present invention resides in part in methods of using doughs in frozen condition that would be or are scoopable at refrigerator temperatures by baking frozen shaped and formed dough pieces prepared therefrom to form finished baked goods without intervening dough thawing or proofing steps.
A dough of the invention is shelf stable without storage under a vacuum at freezing temperatures and refrigeration temperatures. The dough is shelf stable at freezing temperatures for between about two months and about nine months. Moreover, after thawing, the dough is shelf stable at refrigeration temperatures for between about one day and about seven days.
A scoopable dough of the invention has desirable viscoelastic properties. These properties can include dough consistency and torque profile. In one embodiment, the dough has a dough consistency of between about 300 B.U. (Brabender Units) and about 1,200 B.U. More preferably, a scoopable dough that is preformed into individual single-serve units prior to freezing has a dough consistency of 700 B.U. to about 1000 B.U. In another embodiment, the dough has a torque profile of about 0.3 Nxc2x7cm to greater than about 3 Nxc2x7cm.
A scoopable dough of the invention includes flour, a protein supplement, a shortening, a humectant, a leavening system, and water. The flour and water can be in a flour-to-water ratio of between about 2:1 and about 1:1.
A scoopable dough of the invention can include ingredients suitable for controlling darkening of the dough (i.e., dough graying) such as, for example, flour having low polyphenol oxidase activity, flour having a flour enrichment with all reduced iron, a binder of metal ions, an organic acid, and the like.
A scoopable dough of the invention can control free water by the use of a humectant, absent the use of a hemicellulose compound such as a xylan compound.
A scoopable dough of the invention can be packaged without deoxygenating and hermetically sealing the package.
A scoopable dough of the invention can be transferred to a depositor, extruded through a die, wire cut into single-serve units onto a sheet of plastic film, conveyed to a freezer, frozen, packaged for foodservice quantities, shipped to a foodservice customer. Thereafter, the scoopable dough can be placed directly from the freezer into the oven and baked without an intermediate thawing or proofing step. Alternatively, the scoopable dough can thereafter be refrigerated for about one day to about seven days and then baked.
A baked product can be prepared from a scoopable dough of the invention.
A baked product can be prepared from a frozen dough of the invention.